By Myra P. Saefong and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) ? Crude futures settled above $94 a barrel Monday, with a weaker U.S. dollar helping to lift prices to their highest close since mid-September, as traders watched developments on the U.S. debt crisis for hints on the outlook for energy demand.
Light, sweet crude for delivery in February /quotes/zigman/2291766 CLG3 +0.65% ?settled at $94.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 58 cents, or 0.6%. Prices, which fell 26 cents on Friday, had posted small losses and gains throughout most of the session, but moved decidedly higher as the dollar lost more ground. Oil settled at its highest since Sept. 18, FactSet data show.
Beijing?s air pollution spikes
Air-quality index shows a reading far above high levels that typically take place during rare events such as forest fires. (Photo: Getty Images)
?The stronger euro continues to put pressure on the U.S. dollar index, sparking renewed buying interest by investors in the commodity sector in general,? said Darin Newsom, senior analyst at Telvent DTN.
The ICE dollar index /quotes/zigman/1652083 DXY -0.06% , which measures the greenback?s performance against a basket of six major global currencies, was at 79.493, below 79.566 in North America late on Friday. Weakness in the greenback tends to provide support for dollar-denominated commodities. See: Yen hits multiyear lows; dollar slips too.
Added supports
/conga/story/misc/markets.html 240610Adding support to oil, ?seasonally, the energy complex is entering a time frame when its low is established,? said Newsom.
All the while, ?Brent crude is seeing strong commercial buying, as indicated by the strengthening inverse in the forward curve (series of futures spreads),? he said. ?This most likely reflects continued bullish economic data out of China hinting at possible stronger demand in 2013.?
February Brent /quotes/zigman/2735831 UK:LCOG3 +1.17% ?settled at $111.18 a barrel on ICE Futures in London, up $1.24, or 1.1%. The contract expires after the close on Wednesday.
Oil traders also focused on developments linked to the U.S. debt crisis.
?It looks like the rhetoric is starting to heat up regarding the [U.S.] debt crisis on both sides of the aisle,? wrote Tariq Zahir, managing member at Tyche Capital Advisors, in emailed remarks.
At a news conference Monday, President Barack Obama again urged Congress to increase the debt ceiling, saying that inaction could roil financial markets. See: Failure to hike debt limit may roil markets, says Obama.
The headquarters of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.Coming up later this week is the release of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries? monthly oil report and the U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly petroleum-inventory data, both due out Wednesday.
On Friday, the Paris-based International Energy Agency will issue its monthly report on oil, as well.
Rounding out action among energy futures Monday, February heating oil /quotes/zigman/2202758 HOG3 +1.94% ?rose 5 cents, or 1.8%, to $3.06 a gallon and February gasoline /quotes/zigman/2052319 RBG3 +0.39% ?settled at $2.75 per gallon, up 1.5 cents, or 0.5%.
Natural-gas futures for delivery in February added 5 cents, or 1.4%, to $3.37 per million British thermal units, extending a 4.2% gain seen on Friday.
?While the cooling trend in the forecast can be seen as supportive, the overall level of heating demand remains moderate,? wrote Evans in a note.
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Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco. Follow her on Twitter @MktwSaefong. Varahabhotla Phani Kumar is a reporter in MarketWatch's Hong Kong bureau. Follow him on Twitter @MktwKumar. Barbara Kollmeyer in Madrid contributed to this report.
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